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Pakistan: Covid vaccination drive picks up momentum

Dubai - Pakistan is expected to receive more than 13 million doses by June

The Covid-19 vaccination drive will gain momentum in Pakistan as it is expected to receive more than 13 million doses by June, top health officials said.

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar posted on Twitter that daily vaccinations crossed 100,000 for second consecutive day on April 28 as more and more people visited the hospitals and designated health centres for Covid jabs.

"Second successive day of more than 1 lakh vaccinations. Encouraging to see pace of registration also picking up. Vaccination of those between 40 and 49 years age will be starting from monday the 3rd of May," Umar tweeted.

Earlier, the minister said a total of 2.1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Pakistan — over 100,000 of which were administered on Tuesday alone.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan also said that more than 117,000 vaccine doses had been administered in one day on April 27. He also tweeted latest data on vaccine arrivals in the country and said 13 million doses are expected to receive by June as the government has accelerated efforts to buy more doses of the vaccine.

"Of ~18.7 mln doses [rec'd & expected] until Jun, ~78% are via purchase by govt...

..2 mln doses administered so far; >117,000 doses in 1day (27 Apr)," Dr Sultan tweeted.

Pakistan has reported 5,112 new cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours as well as 131 fatalities. The country’s caseload has risen to 820,823 while its death toll stands at 17,811.

"The government has conducted 49,099 tests with 10.41 per cent positive ratio for Covid-19 cases," according to the latest data.

Pakistan has so far managed to vaccinate only one per cent of its total population, which is far low compared to eight per cent in India, 10 per cent in Bangladesh and 47 per cent in Nepal, according to latest data by Duke Global Health Innovation Centre.

Health experts and medical specialists have suggested the government to adopt more aggressive strategy to accelerate the pace of vaccination drive as the pandemic situation is worsening with every passing day. They urged the health authorities to launch an impactful awareness drive to convince the people to go for the vaccination at the earliest.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said that vaccination of above 50 age group is going on at full pace and more than 115,000 between the age group of 59-60 were vaccinated.

"Alhamdulilah! More than one million people are vaccinated in Punjab," Dr Yasmin tweeted.

The health minister advised 40-plus age group to go for the vaccination at the earliest.

A day earlier, she said more than 40,000 citizens were vaccinated across all the centres in the province.

"The vaccination process is being closely monitored and more counters are being added to facilitate maximum numbers of people," Dr Yasmin Rashid said.

-- muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com